Oil light flashing red in 99 Passat 1.8T

[ksalper]

Hey guys. I've got a 99 1.8T with 130k+ miles on it. My CHECK ENGINE light has been on, steady, for months; mechanic tells me I need a new catalytic converter, and I've just been putting it off.

The other day, though, as I was driving around a curve, my OIL LIGHT beeped and flashed red. I panicked for a few seconds about whether or not I could make it to work like that (I was about a mile away) and after about five seconds, it went out.

I figured maybe I had a low oil situation, so I checked it out later, after it had a good hour to cool down, and there was plenty of oil on the dipstick.

About five days later now, and it started again, only on flat, level roads, again on my way to work. This time it happened about four separate times during my commute, for between about 3 and 15 seconds each time.

I'm pretty broke these days and not looking to either spend money on the car (hence the cat not being replaced) or on expensive repairs. Any thoughts what this could be? I'm pretty nervous, obviously.

[classicjetta]

It could always be a faulty oil pressure sensor but given that its a 1.8T it's just as likely to be oil sludge. You cannot put off getting this fixed unless you want to buy a new car. Take it to a mechanic familiar with VWs and have them drop the oil pan and take a look.

[scotts13]

Aww, don't worry about it; it'll go away...

Seriously, I'm afraid you're going to have to spend some money on this one. The flashing red light means "you are destroying something expensive." While there's a slight chance you merely have a bad oil pressure sensor, most likely the oil pump screen is clogged with bits of sludge or coke produced by high temperatures in the turbocharger. You need to get a manual oil pressure gauge hooked up to check the actual oil pressure, and I mean now - before you do much, if any, driving.

After that, you'll most likely have to drop the pan and replace the oil pump screen and preferably the pump as well. This is a non-trivial job on a 1.8T.

[ksalper]

I was afraid it might be that.

One other thing I've noticed, which is probably just wishful thinking: when I last checked the oil, the dipstick just kind of pulled right out with no resistance at all -- like, whatever normally retains it and gives it some "grip" has apparently been broken off. Any chance that could be causing the pressure to be mis-measured?

Sorry, I'm really ignorant about a lot of this...

[scotts13]

No, that shouldn't affect the oil pressure; except theoretically and indirectly. Most likely your orange plastic dipstick funnel has disintegrated again (at your age and mileage, it's unlikely to be the original). Easy replacement. There IS concern that crumbling bits of plastic could get down the tube and yes, clog the screen - but I've never heard of that happening.

Sludge/coked (depending on the term you prefer) 95% probability.

[ksalper]

Ugh. If it's sludged, it's doomed, right?

[scotts13]

Not necessarily. Near as I can tell from the previous owners records (replaced pump, BG treatment, etc.) mine was de-sludged almost 200,000 miles ago and it seems fine... so far.